If your name is on the list above you are in the SW fly swap and should be getting a mailing info e-mail from me in the next few minutes. The pics and recipes for the flys from this swap will add quite a bit to our fly board.

If you don't get an e-mail it is because your address is not in your profile and I don't have it from other correspondence. Just send me an e-mail and we'll be all set.

Most swaps I've meistered or participated in were based on a finite number randomized so everyone gets as many as they put in but not necessarily one from each participant. In other words, many people participate but only send 6 flies or 12 flies each. Some I've participated in allowed people to double up to get as many back as they put in, so in a standard 6 fly swap people who send 12 get 12, etc. The point is it doesn't matter how many people, you get as many as you put into it.

My favorite randomization method is to put all the flies out on a table and have my kids pick flies. This way the selection process has nothing to do with angler's logic. My daugther chooses because she likes the color or it's pretty, etc.

The most important part is to get the images into the archive so that the tyer can explain in his/her own words how to tie the pattern. Others can ask questions and also look it up later on when the snow melts. That way even if you don't get the fly itself you still get the benefit of learning about it thru the swap.

I suppose "sluggo flies" don't really go along with the spirit of the fly swap , and the only other flies I know how to tie are better suited for catching trout and bluegill. Maybe by next year I will have become competent enough at tying saltwater flies that I will be able to participate in a swap or two.

In any event, I am looking forward to seeing the fly photos and recipes. I think someone mentioned in a previous post that it would be nice if the recipes included information about when, where and how to fish the flies. I would like to second that request! It is also nice to see details about the order, position and style in which the materials are tied. I'm planning (hoping may be a better word) to learn to tie some of the flies posted in the archive and I will need all the help I can get! :hehe:

My plan was for each participant to tie up to six flies and recieve the same number in return. Send 2 in get 2 back, send 6 in get 6 back. You don't have to announce what you will be tying and you don't even have to tie the same fly though that will make the photography task easier to manage.

Well, February is going to be a long month. I started early & already had my six (plus a few extras) tied up. But now that I understand the system, I've been chugging out a few ever couple of days while watching TV. The way I look at it is you tie up N all the same & you get back N all different; a great way to get some variety in your fly box. I'll probably be sending in 12-15!